


Once upon a time

by taekookreads9



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fairy Tale Endings, Fairy Tale Retellings, Romance, Snow White Elements, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taekookreads9/pseuds/taekookreads9
Summary: In this fairytale-like rewriting, Ino’s father, Yamanaka Inoichi, sees his daughter is about to die. Desperate, he pleads Kami to save her life. Kami answers him that Ino can be brought back to life only by her Love’s First Kiss.
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Yamanaka Ino
Kudos: 16





	Once upon a time

**Author's Note:**

> I got obsessed with the idea since I recently watched again Snow White. I just love so much this ship!  
> Thank you for reading and I’m sorry if there are any mistakes.

_**“I’ll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you... We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pin trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams. And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we’ll be joined so tight.”** _

_**–** _ **Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass**

Ino was deep into the woods, far away from any contact with human beings. She was separated from Sakura and Kiba, Ino only hoped that her friends were alright- not like her. Ino fought alone with a strange Witch that used black magic and poison. Before finally killing the Witch with her kunai, Ino felt the prick of a needle in her left arm. But this wasn’t an ordinary needle, Ino knew, because it was filled with poison, and the Yamanaka daughter was already feeling the paralyzing pain. It was stinging deep within. 

There was no sound left. Ino could only hear birds singing. 

_That’s fine, then. I won’t die alone, they will keep me company._

Ino fell to the ground, laying on the damp grass, contemplating the blue sky as she was feeling the numbness creeping in. 

_I wish I had done so many things. I never told Shikamaru how I feel. I never told him I love him._

Her last thoughts were Shikamaru but also her friends: Chouji, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Lee, Tenten. 

_I hope they are okay. I want them to be alive. Please, Kami, keep them safe._

The last image of Shikamaru came to Ino’s mind. She was clearly seeing him: images of the man she loved. Everything was calm, quiet. Ino wasn’t hearing the sound of the birds anymore. Ino thought she saw deers, foxes, ravens. Maybe it was the poison- or just death. She could feel how her heartbeat was becoming slow. Ino didn’t feel anymore pain as the images of Shikamaru kept her company. 

Slumber took her in. Everything was dark. It was like falling asleep. 

——————————————

Yamanaka Inoichi was standing in a colorless space in the afterlife. He sensed his daughter was in danger. Inoichi was beside Ino every step of her fights, as he promised her before dying. 

_Kami, I beg you, please save the life of my daughter. She’s only eighteen. I know Ino has so much more to live._

Inoichi didn’t know if he was truly expecting an answer. 

_I cannot save her since she has already been poisoned by the Sleeping Death. But, fear not, Yamanaka Inoichi, there’s an antidote: your daughter can be revived only by her Love’s First Kiss._

Inoichi remained silent. He only thought of one person that could save Ino and break the spell. Inoichi hoped he was not wrong. 

———————————

Sakura and Kiba were the first ones to see the lifeless body of Ino. They hoped it wasn’t late. Sakura was the best ninja medic in Konoha and sure she could do something. She would save Ino as she did with Kankuro, Kiba thought as he leaned with Sakura to feel some pulse in Ino’s wrist. 

Ino didn’t seem dead at all. Both Sakura and Kiba had seen numerous bodies of dead shinobis , and Ino had the same color that sparked life on her. 

_No, it can’t be. It can’t be. I don’t feel any pulse. I don’t hear any heartbeat._

Sakura saw Kiba after trying to use her chakra to feel Ino’s heart. He was in front of the pink haired woman; Ino between them. Kiba knew Sakura’s gaze. He turned down to notice the grass that was covering Ino. Sakura was already crying, looking at the ground. 

They failed the mission. Ino was dead. Ino was dead. 

It didn’t pass a lot of time and more shinobis were gathering in. It seemed that everyone was looking for them, looking for Ino, Sakura, and Kiba. Chouji ran to them, followed by Hinata and Naruto. Chouji  looked at Sakura crying, then to Hinata already sobbing, her knees to the ground. Chouji got closer to Ino, maybe if he looked better, he would find that Ino wasn’t actually dead.  How could it be? She looks like she is only peacefully sleeping.

Chouji felt the tears exploding. He and Naruto were already thinking on how to tell the news to Shikamaru. 

—————————————

Shikamaru was with Neji and Shino, far from the others. They didn’t know what had happened yet. Still, Shikamaru knew something wasn’t right. He felt something burning in his chest, an anxiety he couldn’t describe. Shikamaru didn’t understand because it looked like they defeated the enemy, but why there was so much quietness around? 

“Do you notice there’s no sound of birds anymore?” Neji asked. 

“Yeah...” Shikamaru answered. Shino and Neji looked at him, they wanted to know what the Nara shinobi was thinking. He was the best at thinking. But then, Shino’s insects came back to him from far away. They were exploring the land before the three shinobis could do something. The insects came to Shino and his expression changed suddenly. 

“Is something wrong?” Neji noticed and asked. Shino stayed silent. 

Shikamaru didn’t like that. He didn’t ask anything to Shino. Shikamaru didn’t want to know, but he was already feeling something. The first thing Shikamaru thought of was Ino. The pressure on his stomach and chest hardened and it was aching. He often thought of Ino because she was his teammate, his closest friend- but there was more than that, Shikamaru was in love with Ino. 

With fear, Shikamaru turned to see Shino, but his expression was unreadable as usual, yet, something was different. Neji sensed it, too. 

“Naruto is coming,” Shino informed them. Something was going on. 

“Why?” Neji asked. But Shikamaru didn’t want to know. He was afraid of the pressure in his chest that kept creeping in.

The first thing that Shikamaru noticed when he saw Naruto walking towards them, were the flowers on the ground and how the blonde Shinobi was stepping on them. He didn’t dare to see Naruto, because if Shikamaru looked him in the eyes then he would know. And Shikamaru didn’t want to. Although he already knew because Ino was his soulmate and he could feel if she wasn’t alright. 

Time felt eternal, but Naruto was already in front of Shikamaru and said something to him that Shikamaru was convinced he was just having a nightmare. 

“I’m sorry, Shikamaru. I really am.” Naruto was so close to the brunette shinobi. He reached an arm to Shikamaru’s shoulder, but Shikamaru realized he wasn’t dreaming and that he wouldn’t wake up to this. Neji and Shino were already close to him, too; both looking to the ground. 

“She’s still in the meadow, everyone is there. We wanted to wait for you before we move her.” 

_Move? Why do you want to move her? I want to be there with her. And I don’t want to be moved either._

“Shikamaru...” and it took only Neji saying his name to Shikamaru break down. 

He thought of Ino smiling to him. His eyes were stinging so bad that Shikamaru thought of rip them off his face, but he couldn’t. As much as Shikamaru was trying to hold in, he couldn’t. Shikamaru broke down to the ground because he wasn’t feeling anymore his knees. The sobs exploded in all his throat and there was nothing more left. Just tears, just sobs coming from the deepest part of his being. Naruto, Neji, and Shino gave him some space but they were soon next to him, trying to hold or comfort him in some way. 

“We need to go. You need to see her.” 

With Neji’s words, Shikamaru realized how ironic was that everyone, somehow, knew about Shikamaru’s feelings towards Ino; how ironic is that even if Shikamaru and Ino weren’t a couple, everyone still knew that Shikamaru needed to know about Ino and that he would be the mor devastated. And probably, it would have been the same the other way around. Everyone would look for Ino, fearing her reaction, if something had happened to Shikamaru. 

Then if all his friends knew about him loving Ino, maybe she knew it, too. 

_It doesn’t matter. I never told her. I wish I had told her. I wish I could turn back time and tell Ino I love her._

____________________________

“Am I dead?”

Ino was standing in an unknown place, floating. There was no sign of anyone else and it somehow felt when she used her mind jutsu on someone. However, Ino was alone and it felt like she was trapped in her own body and mind. 

A familiar voice talked to her.

“You’re not.”  It was Asuma-sensei. Ino wished she could go and hug him, but she couldn’t move. 

“Sensei?”  And Asuma smiled to her. Of course, he was smoking. 

“Where am I?” 

“You’re inside your own mind and body. You’re sleeping, but you can’t wake up. At least not now.”

Ino was still confused, but she remembered the poisoned needle .

“You’ve been poisoned and there’s only one antidote. You will only wake up by your Love’s First Kiss.”

“If Shikamaru doesn’t even know I love him and if he doesn’t even feel the same way about me, then I will never wake up. It’s probably the best.”

Asuma only smiled to Ino as a way of reassuring her, then everything disappeared. 

_If I ever wake up, I will tell everyday to Shikamaru how much I love him. I would never waste another day without him._

————————————

Ino was so warm and beautiful, even in death, that her friends could not find it in their hearts to bury her. They fashioned a coffin made of wood and surrounded by only flowers. The same flowers that reminded everyone of Ino. 

Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten brushed Ino’s long hair and removed every dirt and scratch off her body. Chouji carried Ino on the coffin so she stayed laying there, intertwining some purple flowers on her hands. 

Everyone was crying as they were keeping vigil at Ino, waiting for Shikamaru, so he could say goodbye to her. No one understood why there were also animals keeping vigil. Deers were walking; birds flying but always in the same spot where Ino was laying. It was as if some force of nature, some kind of magic was there, too. There were so many flowers surrounding Ino that it looked just as her flower shop. 

Sakura placed more flowers around the coffin, then Hinata, Tenten, Chouji, Lee, crying together; then Kiba, Kakashi, Sai, Sasuke, Shizune, Kurenai; more shinobis kept coming. And everyone heard and felt when Shikamaru finally came, alongside Naruto, Neji, and Shino. They walked in before so Shikamaru could take his time and the rest could let him walk towards Ino. 

Even if there were hundred faces glancing at Shikamaru, he didn’t notice them. He was too busy focusing on Ino’s figure laying on the coffin. She looked so far away that Shikamaru was too scared to get closer. He wasn’t ready to feel and look at her, to admit that she was dead. 

Shikamaru never considered himself as a suicidal person, yet, in this moment, he was already thinking of the ways he could die and this way stay beside Ino. Shikamaru was imagining his and Ino’s corpses staying in the woods, together. It would be peaceful. Their bodies would froze and Ino would become a flower and Shikamaru a piece of grass. Ino and Shikamaru would lay there for hours, years, her hand in his hand, together. 

And he started walking slowly towards Ino’s lifeless body, hoping that everything wasn’t true, that it was just a destiny’s cruel joke. Shikamaru couldn’t even glance at Chouji because he knew that Chouji would be crying and that would make everything real. 

Shikamaru was finally standing beside the coffin, trembling because he didn’t want to cry. It seemed an eternity that he was just standing next to her, hoping that Ino would move, even an inch. 

_She doesn’t look dead. She looks like she is just sleeping. I have seen Ino sleeping on missions so many times._

Shikamaru reached his hand to touch her arm. 

_She’s not even cold. Ino is still warm. But there’s no heartbeat._

_You’re still beautiful, Ino. I wish you could see these flowers, this meadow, the deers, the birds._

_Ino, I wish you knew that I love you._

Shikamaru couldn’t take it anymore and started crying with all the energy he had been saving. He couldn’t see Ino anymore because tears was blurring his sight and everything was hurting. 

_I can’t live without you, Ino. I can’t._

Shikamaru stopped crying for a bit and leaned closer to Ino. He knelt so he could look at her closer, maybe this way Shikamaru would feel Ino breathing. 

_ I don’t want to leave without you. _

Shikamaru’s face was just two inches away from Ino’s. He smiled at her, because Ino always made him happy. Shikamaru wanted to say goodbye to Ino even if he was planning to be with her soon, again.

“I love you, Ino. I’m sorry I’m late,” he said out loud, so Ino could hear him.  


Everyone heard him. He closed the two inches distance and kissed her, gently pressing his lips on hers. Shikamaru could remember the way her lips felt when Ino kissed his cheek, not knowing that Ino felt the same way as he did. Ino’s lips felt the same, and Shikamaru was glad that this could be his last memory.

When Shikamaru pulled himself away, he looked at Ino again and some of his tears were on her cheeks. But something was weird, because Shikamaru was sure that there were more tears, and those tears were dropping from Ino’s eyes.

_I’m hallucinating already .  I must be._

Ino opened her eyes, feeling tears coming off from her eyes. The first thing she saw was Shikamaru with tears on his eyes, too. He looked like he wasn’t believing what was happening, completely in shock but more happy that she has ever seen him. Shikamaru felt like he just saw a sleepy Ino waking up in the morning, like those times when Team 10 were on a mission and Ino was the last to wake up.

Shikamaru would never forget this moment because Ino wasn’t dead and everything was nit real, like he hoped. The first thing Ino did when she slowly got up was to kiss him passionately, wrapping her arms all around his back. All Shikamaru could do was hold her gently, cupping her face, and returning the kiss.

Both Ino and Shikamaru were sure there was a lot of noise and movement around them. Shikamaru carried Ino in his arms, the two with little tears on their eyes. 

—————————

The meadow was soon Ino’s and Shikamaru’s place, to be together and alone. Everything felt surreal and that blurry moment when both thought they had lost each other, was just a bad memory.

“And if you ever die before me, I’ll make sure to go to the afterlife looking for you.”

“I don’t like to think of you dying, Ino.”

“Then let’s not. Let’s stay alive, this way I can love you every minute and every day of my life.”

“And if you ever die on me again, before me, I would go to the afterlife to look for you. To save you and take you back to earth with me.”

“And when we both die we will be in this place, our souls will be here, still together.”

Shikamaru leaned to kiss Ino, his favorite thing to do.

“Before that, let’s live happily ever after.”

“I love you, Shikamaru.”

“I love you, Ino. So much.”

They stayed there, in their place next to a river, as two souls that can’t be torn apart.

Because they can’t. Whatever particle or cell Ino is made of, it’s the same one as Shikamaru. 

Two soulmates that would go to the end of the world, looking for each other in this and the next life.   
  


**_ And they lived happily ever after. _ **

THE END

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I thought a lot about Wuthering Heights, The Hunger Games, The Dark Materials, and obviously Snow White Disney movie!


End file.
